Riled Up
by thesecretoflife
Summary: Maya's got a date! Luckily, everyone knows not to mess with Maya unless they want to meet Riley's dark side. Well...almost everyone.
1. Chapter 1

"A _date_?" Riley asked, eyes the size of saucers while her mouth twisted upwards into a sly grin. "When, where, who?" she added quickly, practically bouncing up and down in her seat.

From the open window, the warm breeze was playing with the curtains and tossing around the end of Riley's hair. The new school year seemed to have just started, but the warmth of summer was quickly on its way out. Autumn was beginning to peek through.

Maya inspected her braid while the word "date" rolled easily off her tongue, trying to play it cool even though the very idea of it made her stomach begin to flip. This seemed like a far cry from the "dates" she and Riley had been on with Lucas not so long ago. Thankfully, the triangle had long resolved itself since then. Now dating meant more than a ride on the subway with friends, or silently drinking…or maybe pouring…a smoothie. The stakes were way higher now.

She looked up at Riley, practically floating away in all her excitement, and rolled her eyes. Yet, even with all the fear bubbling in her stomach, she couldn't help but let a smile slip past her cool exterior. Sometimes Riley's cheery antics were just too darn cute.

"I don't think you know him," Maya said, taking Riley's hand in hers to calm her down. "But his name is Alex, and he's meeting me after school. He says he's got a whole surprise planned out for me."

"A surprise," Riley repeated, full of awe. "With a mystery boy. How romantic." She turned her head and seemed to melt into a love-sick grin.

"It's just one date, no big deal," Maya said, looking away from Riley to hide the blush she felt spreading over her cheeks. Maya Hart may have been a tough girl, but it was easy to touch her heart if you gained her trust. This boy had found a way past her wall. He was different, maybe even something special.

"He's just a new boy, that's all," she said, turning to face the breeze again. Her cheeks were fully pink at this point. "just a dumb boy."

"So what you're saying is," Riley said slyly, scooting up closer to Maya, "is that you need my help to pick out the perfect outfit to wear?"

Maya beamed at Riley. "Absolutely."

/

"I told you that you'd look amazing in a white dress," Riley said, watching Maya twist and turn in front of the mirror. The lace across the dress was soft and classic, stopping just above Maya's knees, and ending around her elbows in quarter-length sleeves. Yet, the look was perfectly casual with Riley's additions of a brown belt with accented gold buckle, and a pair of brown gladiator sandals.

Maya tucked her hair behind her ear, looking at herself in the mirror. She'd never been especially insecure about her looks, but she'd never thought she was something special. But right now, in this moment, with her hair perfectly waved and perfect flick of eyeliner she felt…well, _pretty_.

"Are you sure? What if I spill something on myself?" Maya asked, smoothing out the skirt of her dress.

"I'm the superklutz, remember?" Riley said, jumping off the bed. She leaned her head on her shoulder as she appeared in the reflection, arms draped loosely over her neck. "What's the matter Peaches, nervous?"

"Would you blame me?" Maya asked, shrugging a little as she leaned her head against Riley's.

"Not at all, but what I'll tell you is that if this boy can't see the Maya I see, then he's not worth your time, right? There's nothing you can do to scare him away. You're going to be amazing."

Maya turned from the mirror so she could face Riley. "Thanks, Riles," she said, nose crinkling as she scrunched her face into a goofy smile. But despite her silly response, Riley could tell that she'd really gotten through to the girl, and she really was thankful for the reassurance.

Just then, there was a buzz at the door.

"I told Alex he could meet me here," Maya explained. "I'd figured you'd need plenty of time for your beautification processes."

"You get me." Riley nodded. "Well, you stay here a sec, keep him waiting. They always do that in the movies." And with that, Riley skipped off to get the door.

When she got there, she swung the door open in one grand movement. "Well, hello there," she said, dragging out the 'o'.

The boy half-smiled down at her with bright, hazel eyes. He ran a hand through his dark brown hair as he extended the other out to her. "You must be Riley," he said, shaking her hand. "I've heard a little about you."

"Only a little?" Riley asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Only the best. I'm Alex. Is Maya here?" He asked, peering behind her into the empty living room.

"Maya will be out in just a moment," Riley said. "Please, come in." She gestured with a flourish toward the couch, then walked with her arms behind her back in a butler-impersonation before flopping down onto the couch. Alex followed warily behind her.

"So," She said, "how did you meet my Maya?"

"Well," Alex said, adjusting the collar of his shirt. "I mentor the freshman photography class after school a few times a week, so we happened to run into each other in the art room."

"Oooh, an artist," Riley said, leaning closer to him with her chin resting on her palm. "Good answer." She stayed in that position, smiling at him for a moment, before quickly turning back towards her room and shouting "Maya!"

In a moment, Maya was at the end of the hall with the curling iron in her hands like a bat. "What? What is it?" She asked, poised to swing. Then, noticing the boy next to Riley on the sofa, dropped it immediately. "Oh, uh, hey," she said, waving lazily.

"Hey," Alex said, breaking into a smile. "You ready to go?"

"Absolutely," Maya said, salvaging her calm-cool-collected exterior again.

"Yeah, you kids have fun," Riley said, standing up to trail behind them as they walked towards the door. "Oh, but just so you know, if you hurt her, you'll have to deal with me," Riley said with a laugh.

Alex laughed too, but then Riley immediately straightened up and looked serious.

"I know I look like I'm made out of cotton candy, but I mean it. Maya is my everything." She kept the menacing look up for a moment, but then pushed them both out the door in a sing-song-voice of, "Have fun you two!"

/

"is she always like that?" Alex asked once the door slammed behind them.

"I'd be lying if I said no," Maya said with a small chuckle, finding it hard to look directly in his eyes for too long without her stomach beginning to flip.

"Well, in any case, I won't be thinking about her. I'm thinking about you right now. You look beautiful. Let's get on with our night."

 _Just a stupid boy,_ Maya thought. _A beautiful, wonderful, stupid boy._

/

Riley, now fully clad in her pluto pajams, flopped on her bed in a sea of magazines, books, comics, and a bowl of popcorn. Tonight was a girl's night in, just for her, and the stories she'd been in the comic books Farkle had loaned her were filling her head with ideas.

She raised a weary eye to the window, imagining an alien creature climbing through, or maybe some kind of sophisticated android designed to steal her place. She went back to the comic, moving to flip the page, but stopped in her tracks when there was a shuffling noise from the outside.

A demon. Or a ghost. A villainous time traveler. Some kind of horrible mutant creature!

Of all the things Riley could imagine sneaking in through her bedroom window that night, the last thing she expected to see was Maya in tears.


	2. Chapter 2

"Maya?" Riley asked, pulling her in through the window. "What's wrong? What happened? Please tell me why you're crying."

Even though she'd seen her cry before, especially when they were young, it always surprised Riley to see her so upset. Maya was her rock, and anytime there was a crack in her solid foundation it seemed to throw their whole world off balance. After all, if Maya couldn't be strong, how could anyone else be expected to? Riley watched as the small tears pooled in the corners of her red eyes, feeling her stomach twist in sympathy.

"I'm such an idiot, Riley. How many times do I have to say hope is for suckers before I actually know to believe it?" Maya's waved hair had turned to frizz and tangles. The eyeliner Riley had spent ages on was wiped down Maya's eyes and nearing her cheeks. She was a mess, maybe more of a mess than Riley had ever seen. Maya was tough. Maya was brave. Riley didn't know what to make of this girl breaking down in front of her.

"Why would I ever think I'd get a nice boy, huh?" Maya huffed, rubbing at her eyes again.

"Hey, Maya," Riley said softly, touching her arm lightly. "Please tell me what happened."

"Oh you know, the usual," Maya said, forcing a smile. "He took me to dinner at some too-fancy place, and we were talking and laughing and flirting…and then I just…I mentioned where I live, you know? Cause the funny thing was he thought when I said to meet here, he thought this was where I lived, not you."

Riley blinked slowly, watching Maya's fake-smile shift into a deep, scornful frown. "And when he realized where I actually live, and how it's just me and my mom…he even let me explain how my dad…" Maya choked. She paused, taking in a few breaths to help calm herself down, then looked Riley in the eyes.

"He said he had to go to the bathroom, but then uh…he just never came back. I waited there for ages like an idiot. And, you know, since we already ordered I was left with the check." Maya closed her eyes tight, and Riley felt her stomach drop. "I'd brought enough to pay for myself, you know? But I didn't have enough for both of us. He'd ordered something fancy and I just…He made such a fool out of me."

"Are you in trouble? I've got my credit card, we can go back," Riley said, standing to leave.

"No," Maya said, grabbing her arm. "It turns out they knew my mom, and said they'd take care of it. They weren't happy, but they understood. I'm not in trouble. I'm just sorry I ever went in the first place. I'm not the kind of girl for a boy like that."

"Maya, are you kidding? He's not the kind of boy for a girl like you. He was horrible. He was awful. And I even told him," Riley paused, realization suddenly flickering over her face.

Maya looked at Riley, seeing the way her eyes grew wide. "What?"

"I told him not to mess with my girl," she said, a small smile on her lips. "And now he's gotta know just how much I meant it." The glint in Riley's eye was something Maya didn't see very often, but when she did, she knew that her meddling mind was running at an all-time-high.

"Oh, no. Riley, please stay out of this. I'm fine." Maya said, trying to pull her back down to earth before it was too late.

"Maya, I love you, but have you seen yourself? You're not fine. I'm gonna teach that boy a lesson. I just have to figure out how." Riley's smile was now a full-blown smirk. Maya knew they were past the point of no return.

/

The next morning, the gang had assembled at Topanga's bright and early, after receiving a mysterious, and vaguely threatening, group text.

Zay sat slumped over a steaming cup of coffee, awake only in the technical sense. Next to him, Lucas was watching him nod off slowly, his nose always dangerously close to falling into the cup before he snapped awake again.

Shaking his head, he turned woefully to a bright-eyed Farkle and grumbled, "Whatever this is, it better be good. Some of us need our beauty sleep, okay?"

"Well I still think you're pretty, Zay," Lucas said, nudging him as Zay scowled.

"Me too!" Smackle added with a grin, quickly followed by a sigh from Farkle.

"Anyways," Farkle said, clearing his throat. "Does anyone actually know why we're here?"

Just then, the door opened with a thump and crazy shake of the bell. Riley stepped forward like a soldier with her arms behind her back, nodding tensely at the group sitting in front of her.

"Welcome, everybody," she called in her best general voice. "So glad you could make it."

"Riley, honey. You're adorable, but why am I awake right now?" Zay asked, looking weak.

Riley paced back and forth in front of the group. "I've called you all here today because our most prized soldier has come under fire." Riley turned to face them, paused for a moment, and then dropped her general act. "A boy humiliated Maya, you guys. And I'm not just gonna let him get away with it."

"Who was it?" Lucas asked already on his feet.

"Easy there, soldier," Zay said, tugging on his sleeve so he would sit back down. Even after all this time working with his temper, Lucas could never get rid of the instinct he felt to protect and fight for his friends. It was something that would always be a part of him.

"His name is Alex," Riley explained. "Now, the reason I brought all of you here is because I believe I need all of you for a real plan to work. This isn't just about petty revenge, it's about teaching this boy a real lesson. For him to hurt Maya like this, something must have really hurt him, right?"

Riley's eyes were soft and kind. It reminded Farkle of when he'd had a bully of his own. Even after Riley had saved him, she knew she had to save the bully as well. She hadn't changed, always looking out for the best in everyone.

"So we talk it out first," Farkle offered. "You always attempt to negotiate before you go to war."

"And if that plan fails?" Smackle asked.

"Then we strike with no regrets," Farkle replied with a shrug.

The gang all exchanged glances, the room suddenly silent as they realized what they were really getting themselves into here. This was high school, and the stakes were much higher than they'd been before. When one of them was hurting, they were all going to have to raise their level to protect them. They needed to stay strong and stay together, no matter what.

Riley looked between them, nodding. "So it looks like I'm on the frontlines then, huh?" She looked out the window of Topanga's, watching people pass by while the sun was still rising. "Well then, I hope Alex is ready for me."

It was a new day. One they would all remember. And if Riley could help it, she was going to make a real difference.


	3. Chapter 3

It wasn't like Riley to show up to new places alone, and it especially was like her to show up to them all by herself. Riley peered around the space, an abandoned warehouse now taken over by graffiti and the occasional red solo cup. As Riley got closer, she could see a group of boys standing in the frame of the open garage, playing some kind of mini street hockey. If it hadn't been the middle of the day, Riley might not have had the courage to even get close to the place. After she sucked in a deep breath, she stepped up to them.

"I'm looking for Alex," she said, trying to make eye contact with each of them.

The group paused their game and looked down at her. "You lost, princess?" one asked, followed by chuckles from the rest of them.

"You heard me," Riley said, standing firm. "I heard he hangs out here. Is he around?"

One of the boys, taller than the rest, looked down at her and nodded a little. "Yeah, kid. He's up on the catwalk inside. Can't miss him."

"Thanks," Riley said, shuffling past them quickly before their game started up again. Once she was through the garage, she could see the dust floating in the wide, open space. The light through the windows was yellow and filmy, but it made her feel a little better. She scanned the room, past the paint cans and rejected spray bottles, until she spotted the ladder for the catwalk. Following its path, she could see a figure sitting towards the middle of it. Moving quickly, Riley grabbed the first rung. _Just don't look down_ , she reminded herself.

Once she was up, she could see that the figure really was Alex. He was bent over some book, completely lost in thought.

"Hey," Riley said, a smile on her face. "I've been looking for you."

Alex blinked slowly, clearly not remembering who she was. "Oh, uh, your friends with Maya? What was it…Rebecca?"

"It's Riley," she said, sitting down next to him. "But we're not here to talk about me. We're here to talk about Maya."

"Oh?" Alex asked, closing his book and dropping it next to him.

"You sure we're not here to talk about you?" He scanned her up and down, a smirk spreading over his face.

Riley visibly recoiled. "No," she said flatly, the smile disappearing from her face. "I came here to tell you to apologize to my friend. You were a real jerk. It's the least you can do." She crossed her arms.

Alex leaned away from her, shaking his head. "Look, we didn't work out, okay? It's not my job to make puppy dog eyes at every girl I take out when things aren't working. I wasn't feeling it, so I split. Welcome to the major leagues, kid."

Riley stared him down, stone faced. "I think you misunderstood me. I'm not _asking_ you to apologize. I'm _telling_ you to. And if you say no again? You're _really_ gonna regret it."

"You sure we're not here to talk about you?" Alex asked again, leaning in a little closer.

"Oh, god," Riley pushed away from him. "Fine. You asked for it. Don't say I didn't warn you."

In a flash, she was running out of the garage, rage in her eyes as the group of boys yelled after her. She was going to make this boy pay.

/

"Wait, wait, you're telling me you walked into an abandoned warehouse all by yourself just to confront this guy?" Farkle asked.

"I thought I made that pretty clear," Riley said with a laugh. "I did exactly what you asked. I went to him, polite as can be, and he refused to apologize to Maya. So now we've got to strike. That's what we agreed on, and I'm sticking to that plan. He's not getting away with this."

Farkle had always admired the lengths Riley went to in order to help her friends, but this felt different. It wasn't a selfless act, but a calculated one. For once, Riley had let the part of her that tried to see the best in people go quiet. Or maybe, there just wasn't a lot of "best" to see in this boy. Either way, Farkle was certain he was going to be careful with how he handled this situation. When it came to revenge, things could go wrong extremely quickly. One false move, and he imagined Riley might explode, or worse, break down herself.

"So what do you need me to do?" Farkle asked, staring into Riley's wild eyes.

"You're a genius, Farkle. This isn't that hard to understand. I want you to hack into Alex's account so we can find the most embarrassing, ridiculous photos of him. Then we'll see how smug he is about hurting Maya."

Farkle was silent, watching the way Riley fumed, unable to stand still as she paced around her room. It was strange to see her so worked up, so angry. It almost seemed like she was copying the mannerisms of some comic supervillain rather than just being herself.

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" he asked her.

Riley stopped her pacing and turned to face him, suddenly quiet. "If you saw the way she looked. How much she'd been crying. If you saw how one stupid boy was able to devastate her like that…you'd be just as angry as I am."

"Okay," Farkle said, nodding earnestly. "I'll do it."

/

After a few hours, Riley and Farkle had printed out hundreds of copies of the photos they'd found, arranging them across her room in different piles. As they walked around, Farkle winced at each one, imagining the photos someone could find of him with the proper motivation.

"This is your last chance to back out of this, you know." He said, peering over at Riley.

"I know."

"And once we're in, there's no backing out."

"I know."

"And he might go looking for a way to get back at you."

Riley paused for a moment. "I know."

Farkle turned his attention from her back to the photos. "He's never going to recover from this, is he?"

Riley stood over all of the piles, arms crossed while she scanned the room, a small smile on her lips. "Not a chance."


	4. Chapter 4

It was early. Way earlier than even morning-riser Farkle liked to be awake, let alone hauling bags filled to the brim with posters on the subway. Riley was next to him, bag slung over her shoulder, staring absently out of the dark window. She'd been quiet all morning, strange even in her current mood. She meant business. In her hand, Farkle watched as she fiddled with the extra set of keys she'd stolen from her father's hiding spot: a decoy book from their living room. Cory had thought the kids would never touch it. Clearly, he was wrong.

Riley's fidgeting hands were the only indicator that she was feeling any nerves at all, her thoughts firmly stuck on Maya and her tear-stained face. She knew that no one could get away with hurting her girl. And now, for the first time, she really had to prove it. When the subway doors opened, she walked briskly outside and down the route toward the school, Farkle trotting along behind her, watching her every move.

"Ok, for real this time," Farkle said, breath a little shallow. He looked down at the keys again, Riley already turning them to unlock the door. "Last chance to back out of this."

Riley looked back at him for a moment, stone-faced, then pushed the school's doors open without another word. "Let's get to work."

/

Maya could hear the panic before she saw it. Outside the doors she could hear a deafening mix of laughter and full-on angry threats. She hesitated outside for a second, wondering if she should wait until she knew what was going on inside. Just as she turned back, she remembered: Riley. She'd ditched her that morning to get to school early, which meant there was no way she wasn't inside already. There was no way Maya was going to leave her alone in whatever hurricane that was currently tearing the school apart inside. And just like that, she ran into the hall.

A wave of posters fell around her as she did, dropped from above the door, but more floated in front of her, thrown by random people as they ran through the halls. There were more taped to lockers, sitting around the floor, covering any surface Maya turned to. Maya crouched down and picked up one in her hand. In it, Alex was half-standing and half-falling over, surrounded by a castle of empty beer cans as he raised a bottle of vodka in the air. Maya cringed, turned to another poster: Alex posing in a princess dress, sloppy makeup over his face. Another: Alex passed out on the couch, a slew of nasty drawings on his face. Another: Alex flicking off the camera on the school's roof. As Maya scanned the hall, the images seemed to get worse and worse. She felt her stomach flip, suddenly sick.

She made her way to Cory's classroom, catching more posters with added commentary as she did. A group of football players were tearing them off the walls as she went by, but Maya could tell there were far too many for them to clean them up in time. The damage was done. Alex wasn't only going to be humiliated, he was going to be punished.

When Maya finally reached the classroom, half of the kids were stationed towards the back, flipping through the posters and whispering wildly. Lucas and Zay were lost in their own conversation, shaking their heads. But Riley and Farkle were incredibly still. Maya felt her breath catch. She looked at Riley and pointed towards the group behind her.

"What do you know about this?" Maya asked, voice shaky.

Riley looked back at her with a small smile, but only shrugged.

"Are you alright?" Farkle asked.

"Me? I'm not worried about me right now. What do you two know about this?" Maya asked, voice getting louder.

"Maya, I know you're asking because you want to keep these two safe, but I think you should keep your voice down," Zay said, breaking away from Lucas and moving close to her. "Other people can't know they had anything to do with this. If you want to keep them safe, you've got to let them stay quiet." Zay kept his eyes on Maya's.

Maya nodded, falling into her seat without another word. A few moments later, the bell rang, but no one moved. Cory was still nowhere to be found. Maya felt her blood boiling. She couldn't keep still.

"I can't believe you," she whispered fiercely, turning to Riley. "This isn't what we do. You aren't that kind of person."

"I don't appreciate it when people hurt my friends," Riley replied evenly, eyes on the board. "Whatever happened, he got what he deserved."

In that moment, Cory ran into class, out of breath, and more angry than any of them had ever seen him. "I don't know what's going on here," he said, eyeing all of them. "But I sincerely hope none of you had anything to do with this."

Behind him, Maya caught a glimpse of movement in the hall. Alex. Escorted by the security team towards the principal's office. When she leaned to watch, she caught his eye.

"You!" he yelled.

Maya felt her heart drop. Her breath left her lungs.

"This is not over," he called. "Not even close."

Suddenly, everyone's eyes were on Maya. She felt herself shrinking into her seat.

"Maya," Cory asked. "Is there something you want to tell us?"

/

"I lied for you, you know that?" Maya sighed, glaring at Riley and Farkle, both frozen in the bay window. "I kept you two out of this. So now your dad and all the other teachers are looking for someone to blame for what you did. And of course, it took all my convincing for them not to just blame me. Thankfully, I don't have an extra key hiding around my apartment. I had an alibi. You two don't, so how long do you think it'll take him before he catches on? A couple days?" She shook her head.

"How could you be so stupid?" Maya yelled, pacing around. "You've made yourself targets. You got a boy expelled because he made me cry? How weak do you think I am? And now who's going to protect you? Lucas? You think that's a great idea? Let him pummel this guy and all his stupid friends into the ground so we can get him expelled too? Were you even thinking at all?"

"He's not going to do anything to me," Riley said quietly. She was stone-cold, but Farkle seemed to wilt beside her.

"I didn't imagine we'd really get this far," he admitted. "I let my emotions get the best of me. I didn't think things through."

"No, you didn't," Maya agreed. "And now somehow we're going to pay for it."

"It's over. I won." Riley said, standing to face both of them. "He got the picture."

"Honey," Maya said, exasperated. "You're new to this whole revenge thing, so let me explain. Just because you got him back doesn't mean it's over. The war has just begun. Alex isn't a good guy, okay? There's no secret sap-story we can uncover to bring him to the light side. He's a jerk. And now he's an angry jerk who knows just who to blame."

"So what do we do?" Farkle asked.

"The only thing we can do," Maya replied, sinking to the floor. "Wait."

/

 _Author's Note: So sorry for the delay with this chapter! I'll hopefully be updating much sooner, so hopefully you won't be waiting for too long. Coming up next: Alex strikes back. Thanks so much for reading and reviewing!_


	5. Chapter 5

It had been nearly three weeks since Alex's suspension, but it felt like years to Maya. She'd become something of an insomniac, only logging three hours or so of sleep a night, if that. She felt she had to be hyper-vigilant now just in case something happened to her well-meaning but completely crazy friends. But, somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered if Riley might have been right. Maybe getting Alex expelled was the end of whatever this war was. Maybe he would be smart enough not to fight back. She took in a deep breath and pushed her covers off of herself and moved to the window.

The lights flickered over Maya's face as the neon signs shifted from red to blue and back again. It was rare to see the streets so empty, this part of town so quiet. Maya was always used to some kind of noise. Some kind of trouble. She couldn't believe she'd let a single boy shatter her world so easily. Of course Riley reacted so violently. Maya had never let her guard down like that before. But she'd been learning how to hope, how to wish for good things for herself. She just wanted someone to be a part of that.

With a sigh, Maya shoved the window closed. Just as she did, the muffled sound of sirens hit her. The streets flashed white as a few cop cars rushed by. She watched them run down the street until the light faded back into dark, the sound back into silence. Her world was just her again. At least, until her phone buzzed.

The text from Riley was only three words. Maya didn't even have to unlock her phone to read the whole message. And yet, it made her heart stop: _You were right._ She was right? The war wasn't over? Alex wasn't finished with them? Maya's imagination flashed a hundred different scenarios in her head as she stuffed her backpack quickly. She was out her window and halfway down the sidewalk before her reply lit up Riley's phone: _on my way._

Maya didn't stop running until she was just outside Riley's window, but her breath caught in her throat as she finally stopped. She bent over, hands on her knees while she saw that Riley's light was out. She wasn't waiting for her. She wasn't there. Riley wasn't okay and she wasn't in her room and she wasn't okay. Behind her, the sound of another siren. Maya felt herself starting to panic. Instantly, she threw herself into another sprint, heart pounding. This time, she followed after the cop car.

Maya didn't have to see Topanga's to know something was wrong. The blockade of cops down the street told her just how bad it was. "Riley," she yelled. In a moment, the brunette's face appeared from the crowd of police officers and a few bystanders Maya didn't recognize. They ran to each other, crashing into the other's arms.

"Are you okay?" Maya breathed.

"I'm fine," Riley whispered. "But Maya…you need to see this."

Riley took Maya's hand in hers, pulling her behind her, past the line of cars and groups of police officers. Topanga's was already blocked off by tape, but Riley pushed it aside a little so they could look through what was left of the windows. All the glass had been smashed out, lying around the floor and streaks of spray paint that had been left all over the walls. The most prominent, a bright red symbol next to the words "not over." Maya could see that Riley was tearing up now.

"This isn't your fault, Riley," Maya whispered.

"You don't have to lie to me." Riley pushed the tears away, trying to pull herself together.

"I'm not lying, I-"

"Maya," Cory called from behind them. He walked up to the two girls, placing a hand on both of their shoulders. "I'm glad that you can be here for Riley, but you know how this looks for you." He kept his voice quiet so that no one else would hear.

"I know," Maya said, looking down at her feet.

"Maya, I know what really happened with that boy," Cory said.

Riley looked up at him with fear in her eyes, but didn't speak.

"I saw that my key was missing that morning. I just didn't want to believe it. I didn't know what was waiting for me at school. How serious it would be. Maya, there's no way you're not going to be questioned about this. They're going to think it was your plan, not Riley's."

"So I'll tell the truth. I'll tell them it was me," Riley said.

Cory looked between the two of them, trying to keep a strong face. He couldn't break in front of them. "I could lose my job. If they know what really happened, they could blame it all on my recklessness with that key. And rightly so."

"So what do we do?" Maya asked.

"I don't want you expelled, and I don't want you fired for what I did," Riley whispered. "Let me handle this."

"You're sure about this?" Cory asked.

"Riley, you can't do this. Look at what happened. Look at what he did."

Riley turned away from Topanga's and brushed Cory's hand away. "You need to trust me. Please. Just give me some time. I can do this."

"I'll give you as much time as I can, but I can't promise anything," Cory said. "I can't lie to keep you both out of this."

"I'll help her, Matthews. Don't worry about it."

"I'm counting on you," Cory said, walking away to comfort Topanga.

Riley watched him walk away, then turned to Maya. "I don't want you involved in this. It was me that got us into this mess, so it's me that'll get us out."

"You really think you can get rid of me after all this time? Honey, you act like you don't know who you're talking to. It's you and me. Forever. Whether you want me there or not, right?"

A tear slipped from the corner of Riley's eye as they embraced again. Riley curled into the crook of Maya's neck and whispered, "Right. Forever."


End file.
